Apparatus for collecting cigarettes in receptacles



May 31, 1960 J. G. E. HILLMAN APPARATUS FOR COLLECTING CIGARETTES IN RECEPTACLES Filed June 23, 1958 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 ATTORNEVs APPARATUS FOR COLLECTING CIGARETTES IN RECEPTACLES James George Edward Hillman, Deptford, London, England, assignor to Molins Machine Company Limited, London, England, a British company Filed June 23, 1958, Ser. No. 743,815 Claims priority, application Great Britain July 4, 1957 6 Claims. (Cl. 53-148) This invention concerns improvements in or relating to apparatus for collecting cigarettes in receptacles (e.g. cigarettes coming from one or more cigarette-making machines).

In the copendin-g United States patent application Serial No. 690,475, filed Oct. 16, 1957, now US. Patent No. 2,919,529, there is disclosed apparatus in which cigarettes are fed downwardly into an open-sided receptacle so as to be arranged in a stack (with the end faces of the cigarettes forming the sides of the stack and facing the open sides of the receptacle) the stack being supported on a platform which moves gradually downwardly in the receptacle to allow more cigarettes to be added to the top of the stack. Eventually the lower part of the stack may be pushed sideways, from the receptacle into an adjacent container (the upper part of the stack being meanwhile suitably supported) after which the platform is again raised and the feeding of cigarettes proceeds as before.

When the cigarettes are plain, they tend to lie horizontally in an orderly arrangement. When tipped cigarettes are used, however, difficulties may arise on account of the difference in thickness and hardness between the tipped and untipped parts of the cigarettes. Since the tipped ends are slightly thicker and also harder than the untipped ends, there is a progressive tendency for the top layer of the stack to be tilted. If this tilting becomes very pronounced it causes difiiculty in feeding furthercigarettes on to the stack.

According to the present invention there is provided collecting apparatus for cigarettes, comprising a receptacle to receive cigarettes fed thereinto to form a stack, wherein the said receptacle has end walls which can be tilted so as to converge in such a way as to provide more room for-that side of the stack at which tipped ends of cigarettes are located, than for the opposite side at which are located the untipped ends of the cigarettes.

The said walls may be movable so that when a stack has been formed in the receptacle the walls can be made parallel to facilitate the transfer of cigarettes from the receptacle, e.g. to an adjacent container.

The receptacle may comprise a supporting member, e.g. a movable platform, to support the stack, which member may itself be tilted so as to supportthe untipped ends of cgarettes at a higher level than tipped ends.

The said end walls may be pivoted at that side of the receptacle at which tipped ends of cigarettes are located. The said end walls may be spring-urged to swing towards each other, and a pusher may be provided to push cigarettes out of the receptacle, said pusher having parts arranged to engage end walls and swing them into parallel position. The said pusher may have a part arranged to engage the said platform and swing it into horizontal position.

Apparatus in accordance with the invention will now be described by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a front elevation,

- United States Patent Figures 2 and 3 are sectional plan views, with the parts in different positions, and

Figures 4 and 5 are sectional side elevations corresponding to Figures 2 and 3 respectively.

Figure 1, which is generally similar to Figure 16-of the drawings accompanying the specification referred to above, shows a receptacle for cigarettes, apparatus for feeding cigarettes into the receptacle, and a pusher for transferring the cigarettes from the receptacle into a container. As the basic apparatus shown in Figure 1 is fully described in the above-mentioned specification, it will be described only briefly here.

Two conveyor bands 1 for cigarettes are arranged to move towards each other and towards paddle wheels 2 which receive cigarettes from ramps 3 which guide cigarettes from the bands 1. Strippers 4 remove cigarettes from the paddle wheels.

A sliding bar 5 carries prongs or pins 6 which form a grill. The bar is reciprocated lengthwise by a plate 7 on a pivoted arm 8 which is rocked by a cam 9 engaging a roller 10 on the arm. Two additional pins 6a are fixed on swinging arms 5a linked to the arm 8 so as to be reciprocated sideways.

A row of needles 12 carried by a bar 13 are arranged to be moved forwardly at times so as to penetrate end faces of cigarettes at certain times so as to hold them against downward movement. A support plate 14 is also arranged to move forward beneath the needles to assist in supportng cigarettes.

A movable platform 15 is fixed to a bracket 16 mounted on a support 17 which is movable up and down in vertical guides 18, wheels 19 on the support running along grooves in the guides 18. Springs 20 coiled on spools 21 urge the support 17 upwardly, and the support is arranged to be pulled slowly downwards by a chain 22 actuated by cam-operated means, not shown in the present drawings.

A pusher plate 23 is fixed to a forked member 24 to which are secured wheeled runners 25 arranged to run in horizontal guides 26. Suitable cam-operated means are provided to cause the plate 23 to move forward at.

appropriate times.

The platform 15 is arranged to move downwardly through a receptacle having end walls, but open at both sides to permit the pusher plate 23 to pass through.

The apparatus so far described is substantially the same as that described in the above-mentioned specification with reference to Figure 16 of the drawings accompanying that specification, which should be referred to for a more detailed description.

The receptacle mentioned above comprises end walls 30, see also Figures 2-5. The walls 30 are pivotally mounted on brackets 31 fixed to side frames 32, so as to be capable of swinging between the positions shown in Figures 2 and 3 respectively. A spring 33 connects the two end walls 30 and urges them to swing inwardly towards the position which they occupy in Figure 2. Stops 34 limit the inward movement of the walls.

The pusher plate 23 has mounted thereon a pair of rollers 35, Figures 2 and 3, arranged to engage the end walls 30 when the pusher plate is moved forwardly towards the position it occupies in Figure 3. These rollers are so positioned as to press against the walls 30 and swing them outwardly as the pusher plate moves forwardly.

The brackets 16 on which the platform 15 is fixed is pivoted at 36 on the support 17 so as to be capable of swinging between the two positions in which it is shown in Figures 4 and 5 respectively. Springs (not shown) urge the bracket 16 and platform 15 upwardly to the tilted position they occupy in Figure 4. The pusher plate 23 carries, in addition to the rollers 35, a further pair of rollers 37, Figures 4 and 5, positioned adjacent the lower edge of the pusher plate so as to be able to engage and press down the platform 15 when the pusher plate 23 moves forwardly across it to the position it occupies in Figure 5. V l a A container 38 having a base 39, end walls 40 and a side wall 41, is placed alongside the receptacle with its open side facing the receptacle. This container forms one compartment of a structure which contains a further compartment 42, and the structure is arrangedto be moved in any convenient way, e.g. by hand, from the position illustrated in Figures 2. and 3 to a position in which the compartment 42 is opposite the receptacle. Alternatively the container could be av single container.

The operation of the apparatus is as follows. I

Cigarettes are fed from the bands 1, Figure l, by the paddles 2, and form a stack on the platform 15, the pins 6 and 6a acting to straighten and align the cigarettes in the stack. The platform is slowly lowered as cigarettes continue to be fed down by the paddles 2, and when the platform has reached a predetermined level, the bar 13 is moved forward to'cause the needles 12 to penetrate end faces of cigarettes which are then at the level of the needles. The platform 15 continues to move down, and lowers those cigarettes supported on it which are below the level of the needles 12. Then the plate 14 is moved forward to assist the needles 12 in supporting those cigarettes which have been impaled by the needles, and the cigarettes above them.

When the platform reaches its lowermost position, the pusher plate 23 is moved forward through the receptacle and pushes the stack of cigarettes therefrom into the container 38. The platform then rises again, and the cycle is repeated, the container 38 being replaced in the meantime by a further container such as 42.

The operation as described so far is in substance the same as that described in the specification referred to above with reference to Figures 16-19 of the drawings accompanying that specification, which should be referred to for details of the operation.

The present construction is especially designed for handling tipped cigarettes (which may be ordinary corktipped cigarettes, or cigarettes comprising mouthpiece portions or stubs joined to the cigarette portions by encircling uniting hands).

When tipped cigarettes are fed into the receptacle, the end walls 30 and the platform 15 are tilted as shown in Figures 2 and 4 respectively. The cigarettes are so fed that their tipped ends are at that side of the receptacle at which the end walls and platform are pivoted, that is, the side at which there is more room between the tilted end walls, and at which the receptacle has the greatest depth. 7

Thus as the cigarettes form a stack on the platform 15 and are lowered into and through the receptacle, more room is allowed for that side of the stack in which the cigarettes are tipped, and therefore thicker, than at the opposite side at which the ends of the cigarettes are untipped and therefore less thick.

When a quantity of cigarettes is arranged in a stack, there is a tendency for cigarettes at one level to nest between cigarettes beneath them. That is to say, a cig arette will tend to fall into the trough between the cylindrical surfaces of two adjacent cigarettes, ratherthan to rest upon one cigarette vertically beneath it. This is a desirable arrangement since it allows the greatest number of cigarettes to be accommodated in a given space.

When the cigarettes are tipped cigarettes, it will be appreciated that if it were attempted to arrange them in a stack with their axes parallel to one another, there would be more space laterally between the untipped ends than between the thicker tipped ends. Accordingly if such cigarettes are fed into a receptacle with parallel end walls, there will in general tend to be wider lateral spaces between the untipped ends than between the tipped ends, and as a consequence of this, the untipped end of any cigarette supported by and between two adjacent cigarettes beneath it, will be able to fall to a lower level than can the tipped end. In a stack of any considerable depth, this has the effect that the cigarettes in the upper part of the stack are tilted downwardly to an undesirable degree.

This is the reason for tilting the end walls 30 of the receptacle in the manner described above. Cigarettes fed on to the platform 15 between the tilted end walls 3% are, in general, constrained to lie with their axes not quite parallel, so that any spaces between the untipped ends are no greater than those between the tipped ends, thus eliminating the source of tilting of the stack mentioned above.

The difierence in thickness between the tipped and the untipped end of a cigarette also, of course, causes tilting of cigarettes in the stack irrespective of the lateral spacing between the tipped and untipped'ends respectively.- This is to some extent neutralized by arranging for the platform 15 to slope downwardly towards that side at which the tipped ends are located, as described above and as shown in Figure 4. It is, however, also re duced by arranging the end walls 30 at such an angle that the lateral spacing between the tipped ends is greater than that between the untipped ends, as described above. By this means the tendency of cigarettes to nest between the cylindrical surfaces of cigarettes beneath them will tend to lower the tipped ends, with the result that successive layers or levels of cigarettes in the stack can be kept substantially horizontal or at any rate less tilted than they would otherwise be.

When the platform 15 reaches its lowermost position as shown in Figures 1, 2 and 4, the pusher plate is moved forward through the receptacle and pushes the stackof cigarettes into the container 38. As this occurs, the roller 35 mounted on the pusher plate press against the end walls 30, and swing them outwardly to the parallel position illustrated in Figure 3. At the same time the rollers 36 press the platform 15 downwardly so that it swings about its pivot to the horizontal position shown in Figure 5.

This has the effect of widening the outlet side of the receptacle and thereby avoiding any disturbance of the formation of the stack of cigarettes during its transfer. It is found that by swinging the end walls 30 to a parallel position, and the platform 15 to a horizontal position, during transfer of the cigarettes from the receptacle, the cigarettes tend to maintain their formation, or at any rate do not appear to change their positions sufiiciently to cause any great tilting of the cigarettes at the upper level of the stack which is being transferred.

What I claim as my invention and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. Collecting apparatus for tipped cigarettes, comprising a cigarette receptacle, cigarette feeding means arranged to feed cigarettes into the receptacle so that the cigarettes form therein a stack having sides defined by opposite end faces of the cigarettes, a support within the receptacleto support the stack and on which cylindrical surfaces of cigarettes rest, and end walls of said receptacle arranged to engage and confine the opposite ends of the stack, the said end walls being mounted to converge in a direction toward that side of the receptacle a which untipped ends of the cigarettes in the said stack are to be located, whereby more room is provided for that side of the stack at which tipped ends of the cigarettes are located than for the opposite side at which untipped ends of the cigarettes are located.

2. Apparatus as claimed in claim 1 wherein the said end walls are an'gul-arly movable, and comprising means to transfer cigarettes, in a direction generally parallel to their axes, from the said receptacle to an adjacent container, and means operative to move the end walls to make them parallel so as to, facilitate such transfer.

3. Apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein the said support is arranged to be inclined upwardly in a direction toward that side of the receptacle at which untipped ends of the cigarettes in the stack are to be located, so as to support the untipped ends of the cigarettes at a higher level than the tipped ends.

4. Apparatus as claimed in claim 2, wherein the said end walls are pivoted at that side of the receptacle at which tipped ends of cigarettes are located.

5. Apparatus as claimed in claim 4, wherein the said end walls are spring-urged to swing towards each other, and comprising a pusher to engage one side of the stack and to push cigarettes out of the receptacle, said pusher 6 having pants arranged to engage said end walls and swing them into parallel position.

6. Apparatus as claimed in claim 3, comprising a pusher to engage one side of the stack and to push cigarettes out of the receptacle in a direction generally parallel to their axes, and wherein the said pusher has a part arranged to engage the said platform and swing it downwardly into horizontal position.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,024,503 Bickford Dec. 17, 1935 

